If you had missed a few things, we’re talking about the NEW Craftsman brand, acquired by Stanley Black & Decker, who will be revitalizing the brand name. Stanley Black & Decker has a lot of work to do, as they relaunch the brand.

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The other day, we talked about the very first new Craftsman tools to be released under Stanley Black & Decker ownership. There are some other newly launched products as well, such as a USA-made hand tool box. That tool box doesn’t seem to be a new design, but a Waterloo-made design I had previously purchased through Sears’ Craftsman brand.

As mentioned, there are 4 new Craftsman mechanics tool sets. It looked to me that 2 of the new Craftsman sets were carry-overs from Sears’ Craftsman brand, made by Apex Tool Group overseas, and that the other 2 were perhaps designed in-house at Stanley Black & Decker.

Well, I was right.

The two carryover sets are made in China, but the new gunmental-chrome tool sets, with their new Craftsman 120-position full-polish ratchets, were designed in-house by Stanley Black & Decker and made in Taiwan.

Here is exactly what Stanley Black & Decker said when I asked them about this:

The four mechanic tools available for presale are not made in the USA. Stanley Black & Decker is exploring paths to manufacture key CRAFTSMAN categories in the U.S. such as: hand tools, power tools, power tool accessories, and both metal and plastic storage – all while still focusing on delivering our new, best-ever CRAFTSMAN lineup in 2018.

These sets are just the beginning of the CRAFTSMAN launch and we’ll be unveiling new products throughout the year. The country of origin for the mechanics tool sets available for presale are as follows:

We are excited to be increasing manufacturing capacity in the U.S. to support our vision of CRAFTSMAN, and will be localizing as much manufacturing as possible consistent with our operating model of making where we sell.

While I am eager to see what kind of new tools will roll out of USA production lines bearing the Craftsman brand, I can be patient. Stanley Black & Decker pledged to bring production to the USA, and I can’t even imagine the work and efforts that entails. I am eager to see what kinds of tools they will be rolling out with these next few months, and feel relatively comfortable about the two newest made-in-Taiwan sets.

Teaser: A reader asked whether there were Craftsman-branded ToughSystem products coming out. I don’t think so – what I saw looked more like Craftsman-branded TStak tool storage products. More on that soon.

I don’t think Craftsman has ever been in the same league of quality as Proto. I think Proto and S-K are the best tools you can buy for their price tag. Even though both companirs have raised prices considerably over the last few years.

Well… some of the Craftsman Professional tools were widely believed to come off of Armstrong production lines. And if so, that would put those tools, mainly wrenches but maybe also some accessories or other tools, in the same league as Proto.

Other Craftsman Professional tools were definitely pro-grade, made by high quality OEMs such as Knipex and Stride.

There are still some professional grade Craftsman tools available at Sears. To name a few: the Cobra pliers made by Knipex, hammers and mallets made by Vaughan (USA) and the Professional series boxes made by Waterloo (USA).

These look very close to the socket sets being sold under the Stanley Fatmax label in Canada. I bought a Crescent kit I have long thought the best value on the market(contains all 1/4,3/8,1/2″ sockets and ratchets, screwdrivers, channel lock pliers allen keys etc. Sold as a mechanics set and I discovered they are almost identical to the kit I liked very much that was stolen except… They switched to mostly 12 point sockets. Totally disappointed.

I bought the new fatmax kit to replace it, and am VERY happy with it! 120 position ratchets, and nice finish on the sockets, most of which are 6 point. Same gunmetal chrome. If the Craftsman ones are the same OEM and price, they are going to be great value.

It is kind of interesting how we view/test out tool quality. I never bought enough sets of mechanics tools to do any statistically significant evaluation.
Much of what I bought for myself and the businesses turned out to be Williams and Proto – with a smattering of Armstrong, SK (was SK-Wayne at the time), Craftsman, Fairmount/Martin, Wright, Blackhawk and Bonney probably in that order. I’d chase away the tool truck guys from my shops telling them that they would be better served selling to the auto places down the street. This was not because I thought that SnapOn or Mac were not high quality – but because I didn’t want to “owe my soul to the company store” as the lyrics of the old song went. For the most part, I bought my workers the tools they needed – unless they wanted something like a $200 titanium hammer.
More recently, I’ve bought some Asian and European mechanics tools – which are probably of varying quality – but my limited personal use will unlikely to put them to the test. I can feel some difference in holding a Stahlwille wrench compared to a a Gearwrench – but not enough for my needs to buy a whole set of premium German tools – except perhaps like the Wera set that I bought as a gift.

I have become an avid tool collector over the last year and I buy them rusted, greasy or mud caked from auctions and estate sales, I also buy a lot of new tools but with the older messy ones I clean back up and attempt to restore them and have become pretty good at doing it. I’m a weekend warrior and really didn’t know much about a lot of tools, who had the better tools, who to stay away from etc, and I still don’t know who the best is, as to job performance day in and day out because that is beyond my scope but as someone who has cleaned up rusty bad looking tools and especially wrenches and sockets finding out S-K was one that a lot of people liked was surprising to me because most that I have come across just did not seem to hold up as well and clean up as good as the Craftsman, snap-on and other name brands I’ve done. I could be way off base because maybe the S-K tools I’ve come across maybe had sat longer in bad conditions so I will give them the benefit of doubt. Almost all the Craftsman USA made hand tools I have cleaned up look like new and ended up not pitting just seemed to be made out of a better metal but I could tell a big difference with a couple of newer Taiwan wrenches I came across a month or so ago, while not in horrible shape to begin with because of age and/or not having the time to get mistreated as badly as the older USA made ones but having the two Craftsman side by Side the first thing I noticed was the engraving of the brand name and the engraving of the size of wrench looked much more cheaply done and was not done even close as well as the USmade, just lightly cleaning the Taiwan made wrench already started making the engraving disappear unlike the US ones that you could give a good harsh cleaning to and never could tell it. then taking a better look at the two you could tell that they were not made as well either.

Would you pay the price difference for Craftsman branded Proto tools? If so, you are probably the minority. If you want top of the line, buy Proto, Snap-on, etc. Craftsman isn’t that, never was and never will be.

Let’s be honest with ourselves, Craftsman never made particularly great tools. It made decent tools at decent prices for homeowners Homeowners want value (i.e. cheap but still functional) not top of the line quality. The tools Craftsman made were just that, tools for the weekend warrior. They can still be that.

I agree that Craftsman in the past was a good maker of beginner sets for home use. I have used them for over 20 years. HOWEVER, there new ratchets from China are terrible. I have broken a 3/8, a 1/4 fell apart on me( the switch FELL out), and my 1/2 has started making noises. Granted I used a cheater bar on that last one, but it is making similar noises to the 3/8 ratchet, which I’ve only used by hand that, and also broke. I want to take apart one of the Chinese ratchets and one of the old American-made ratchets and look inside and maybe weigh some parts. Are they making the internals with different weaker alloys or what?

Craftsman quality “was” right next to snap-on years ago, their fine tooth ratchet they made back in the 1970’s was rated better then Mac and equal to snap-on, and if I remember right Mac did the testing, their wrenches a lot of machanics liked the feel better then snap-on or Mac and the quality was equivalent to snap-on, at one time Craftsman hand tools were equal to any tool truck tools!!!

Back in the day Craftsman hand tools were great. I used them on my cars as well as rotary winged craft. Their quality has gone downhill and I have no purchased a Craftsman hand tool in at least 25 years and I still refuse to buy Craftsman. In my opinion it was not a good move for Lowes to have taken the line on.

Craftsman electric tools were always vastly overpriced and were only affordable when they went on at 50% off which put them in line with other brands like Makita and Black & Decker. Had a couple of Craftsman tools and they did not last and I will not be buying any of this new release

As others have already said Craftsman was never top of the line. Some of the “professional” line was pretty good, but still a step or two below Snap On, Proto, etc. I always saw the Craftsman line as mid range tools. Good for having at home or for lighter duty on the professional side. Good enough that they would last most weekend warriors a lifetime. And if they didn’t, well no big deal you just take it to Sears and get a new one. The warranty, and the ease of replacing a tool under the warranty is what made Craftsman what it was, not the actual quality of the tools.

Especially before Father’s Day! Their roadmap is likely to span several years. I don’t care much about the carry-over products, but believe new products designed in-house and made in Taiwan are better than nothing. I’m trying to keep an open mind.

Let me preface my comment by saying I am not aiming for any political debate whatsoever.

Having said that, I am very curious what the proposed steel tariffs on China exports will do to the tool and related markets. If suddenly there is little to no price advantage to producing tools and material in China, will that spur Stanley Black & Decker and others to hurry up and start making tools stateside?

I was thinking about this last weekend as I was installing a gas line to my kitchen for a new gas range, and noticed all the black pipe fittings were made in China. No complaints, they worked fine and the price at Menards was great, but it made me wonder how the price of those types of items will change in the coming months.

I suspect SB&D will just raise the prices of made in China/Taiwan products when the steel tariffs go into effect. These tariffs could be temporary and might not be reason to upend their entire supply chain at this time.

Or, as several have mentioned, the Taiwan product could also be a time-to-market stopgap. I’m hopeful SB&D will eventually transition to made in USA versions as part of a longer term commitment to USA-based manufacturing. With a major launch at Lowe’s on the horizon, they would probably rather have product than fret of the country of origin in the short term.

So far, I think, the tariffs are on raw steel and aluminum, not finished products. That would give the cost advantage to foreign produced tools, at the expense of “made in USA (with global components)”

I thought that the proposed tariffs were on imported steel – as in raw materials for the manufacture of automobiles and imported aluminum that might end up in our beer and soda cans. I wonder if US tool manufacturers use imported steel (one of those made from global materials items) US Steel production is way off from what it had been at its peak in 1973 – but that may in part be a result of changing practices. My 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass (made in Lansing) and 1974 Buick station wagon (made outside Flint) certainly had a lot more steel in them than my 2016 and 2018 Hondas (assembled in Marysville).

It may count as a raw material, but melted, drawn, and copper coated welding wire from China has seen a significant price increase.

Some US manufacturers have also decided to raise their prices anticipating this. Lincoln Electric raised their deomestically drawn wire pricing, while Hobart Brothers hasn’t yet. Might be in the pipeline, though.

Drawing is the process of making the actual wire by forcing the raw metal through progressively constricting dies.

On the changes, Union plants are very common in the midwest, which is where a lot of production took/takes place. When you can pay a Chinese worker for a month what an American makes in a day, the cost of shipping is nothing.

I work for an industrial supplier. Pre tariff Chinese wire costs us about 50-60c per pound, Mexican wire about 80c, and American wire from 1.15 to over $2. Talking about solid core, MIG wire. Chinese wire now costs us more than Mexican wire.

Welp, guess I’ll be sticking with S-K, Proto and MAC. I cant figure out why the company cannot create new factories HERE, or hell, even Mexico would be a good start. I dont buy anything made in Communist china if I can help it. I do understand that stuff made in Taiwan is usually pretty good quality, but its still not the same. When it comes to tools, I want US, German or Japanese built tools.

You will stick with SK, Proto and MAC? SBD will be happy with 2/3 of your decisions. And that’s an important point. SBD’s portfolio includes well respected, high-end, largely USA product lines. SBD’s portfolio also includes some low-end cheap Chinese import. If they have a gap in their line-up, its the mid-market line for people willing to pay more for better quality than the cheapest but don’t need pro-level quality. I predict they will position Craftsman more as a competitor to Gearwrench with some USA made tools in the mix. The Craftsman brand is incredibly strong and could fit well in that space. What’s left to be seen is if consumers will support what the business school types call the “disappearing middle.” The recent trends throughout retail suggest polarization between “discount/value” brands and “luxury” brands with the middle disappearing.

So many excuses Stewart. SBD should never have released a craftsman tool unless it was made in the USA. That’s what they said , that’s what we expected. Forget about leftover tools craftsman had, take a loss ..all they accomplished was pissing off a lot of people.
I for one and the companies I run and make all the tool purchases for ,will be not be buying craftsman China crap. I will send an email letting SBD know,if it continues I will boycott them all together and gather as many people as possible through my channel ,accounts and work contacts to do the same, just to send a message.
If enough revenue is lost and bad press is constant, I will hope they change their tune.
So sick of companies lying, and braking promises…I get you have to make a living,but you sure could add a lot of pressure on them to, if you really wanted to get craftsman products made here.

These are the first tools from a brand that SBD paid close to a BILLION dollars for.

I’m going to cut them some slack on the soft-launching products. This has nothing about making a living, it’s about not drawing preliminary judgements based on the first brushstroke of a billboard-sized painting.

From the few conversations I had (none yet with SBD), and the limited information that’s available, I know that the Craftsman launch will be phased.

The initial phase will be messy, involving existing suppliers, maybe new suppliers, while SBD works on the necessary infrastructure to build, expand, and strengthen the brand.

You can judge them all you want. But I’m not ready to form a strong opinion either way yet – they simply haven’t shown enough yet.

I am really curious does a brand like Craftsman really worth a billion to a company like SBD or they just purchased it so nobody else can.

Craftsman certainly have a decent brand recognition even though a good bit of it has been tarnish. SBD already have a long list of solid brand under them already. I can see that for someone else outside of the industry that want to buy their way in perhaps Craftsman also bring the industry connection. SBD already have all that and more.

SBD did likely buy Craftsman to keep it out of Apex Tool Group’s hands. It seemed that Apex was waiting to get Craftsman for a lot less money than SBD paid for it, and they would have been well positioned (as the current supplier of many if not most of the ‘core’ Craftsman hand tools) to make use of the purchase immediately.

Maybe it’s better that SBD got it and plans to invest big in bringing production back to the USA. As much as I like the design of Apex’s stuff, it’s unlikely they would have done anything else other than continue to manufacture and sell China-made Craftsman tools.

From what I was reading and hearing at the time, it seemed like a done deal and Apex was going to be the one to get Craftsman for a bargain and the rest was just procedural. It was head-snapping to a lot of a people that SBD not only paid as much as they did, but that Apex didn’t get it. Maybe Sears couldn’t believe how much SBD offered and the terms they’d agree to, given the low value it was expected to sell for at the time, and couldn’t say no even though Apex was originally going to get it for almost nothing. I’m not sure TTI would want the entire brand, and they likely would get the power tool business if it went to a company like Apex.

This pretty much sums up my feelings. However I do appreciate Stuart keeping us up to date.

I’m a regular Lowe’s shopper, though, so I’m wondering what will get displaced by Craftsman tools. They only have so much shelf space, and it’s currently taken up by Hawke, Kobalt, and a mix of stuff including Stanley.

Maybe 5-10% of my sockets are Kobalt, mostly US made era but some Taiwan made fillers, which have been fine. I haven’t bought any of the newer Kobalt stuff since it went to PRC, not just because of COO, but just no need.

I worked for Lowe’s and their phasing out kobalt and some sbd tools to make the room ….the initial rollout was sbd trying to make money off of the overhead they inherited after the purchase …..while I know the deal with Lowe’s and SBD calls for USA made products Lowe’s is taking whatever they can get of the old stuff to make money for their bottom line for year end revenue to make their stock holders happy for a bigger dividend . So the phase In started this fall and new USA made products from what I heard from the meetings will start rolling out spring or summer 2019 .

I think a lot of it is nostalgia. People are looking at 20 years in the past with their rose tinted glasses. People seem to have upgraded what was always a mid range tool into the equivalent of a tool truck brand in their minds.

Meh, whatever. Made in USA or Asian doesn’t matter to me. Money goes where it is treated best and that happens to be what it is.
The only way i would HAVE TO HAVE them is if they were is a super cool modular case that fit in their tool boxes for jobsites and home use. Kind of like dewalts cases but more modular that could also work with their other tools.

I mean literally doing the opposite of what they said they would do. Solid pass.

Though I was in the camp that craftsman needs to go away today. There’s enough in the market and people under 50 (no offense guys I’m 41) don’t shop for them anymore anyway. Seriously I dad has a few – his brothers on the farm – they were bought from the sears catalog back in the day (70’s and 80’s).

I my history I’ve never once considered buying something that said craftsman on it. ANd I won’t start now. I had hoped these would be USA made stuffs in the local store I could put hands when I needed something. I can’t do that with SK, Proto, or others. At least not near me.

But it seems – still can’t. So back to searching the internet’s and buying online.

Good article Stuart and thanks for keeping us in the loop and being honest concerning giving SBD a chance to make right on their promise of bringing back USA made tools. I for one haven’t been in a Sears store looking at their tool lineup for a 5+ years and would love for it to once again become the pride of USA tool manufacturing. I am only a DIY’er but have a lot invested in tools and cherish all of my old Craftsman USA made tools.

I know they’re going to get a lot of hate for making things in Taiwan but I bet those will be very nice ratchets, no comparison to the crappy Chinese Craftsman junk ratchets. I’d rather have a $30 3/8″ ratchet from Taiwan than a $30 3/8″ ratchet from the USA, labor and misc manufacturing costs in the USA just costs soo much that a ratchet isn’t going to be very good under around $60.

SBD bought a brand, not a tool company. Craftsman has been a tool brand rather than a tool maker. SBD isn’t launching a tool COMPANY from scratch, they are introducing a new, to them, brand of tools. Some company under the SBD umbrella probably makes (or, in some cases, sells but does not make in-house) every single type of tool previously sold by Craftsman. Producing and selling (or obtaining from an OEM and selling) a ratchet and socket set with a Craftsman imprint would be incredibly complicated…FOR ME to do. I feel this task should be well within the skill set of the people at SBD though. So, it feels like everything they’re doing is intentional. They chose China and Taiwan to source these tools to be profitable at the price point they’re targeting. They did this deliberately. Don’t make excuses for them.

They very well may come out with some USA made tools. But the fact that these aren’t is deliberate, not unavoidable or accidental. So, i don’t get all the excuses.

That said, I don’t get all the hate either. Somebody made a tool that you don’t want to buy. Get. Over. It.

They pledged to bring production back to the USA, at least for some tools. Many?

So a lot of people expected this off the bat.

Stanley Black & Decker has a lot of production capacity, but their USA hand tool production seems to be largely dedicated to higher-end automotive and aerospace industry tools. It is likely difficult to spare capacity to squeeze in DIYer-level tools into those lines.

So let’s say they choose to tap into their overseas factories. How do they find production capacity to fill all Lowes stores, Lowes.com, Ace Hardware, and Amazon?

They can’t.

Some tools will be new designs, some will be adapted designs, and some will be produced by existing or new 3rd party suppliers.

I’m not making excuses, I’m making an effort to understand the why and how things are happening the way they are. It’s my responsibility to do so.

Yes, SBD has put it out there that they will honor the Craftsman Lifetime Warranty.

What that looks like in reality is anyone’s guess, though, as there is no open stock to warranty or pull from.

My guess would be they will initially do warranty stuff the same way they do for Stanley stuff – you call and give them the details, they send you a replacement and, sometimes, a return label to ship the old one back so they’re not just sending out new stuff for free.

Eventually I’d expect SBD to have some kind of retail warranty replacement, possibly even having open stock to warranty stuff like sockets, ratchets and wrenches, but it’s going to be a mess when the SBD stuff is a variety of China, Taiwan, and USA-made stuff, plus the old USA-made stuff, the Sears China-made stuff, and so what you get under warranty will just be whatever they have.

I’d say the warranty is almost worthless at this point unless you just bought a Craftsman tool for cheap and/or just want a working tool to replace a broken one.

I was glad to hear that Craftsman tools would be made in the USA again but what I have seen so far is disappointing. I realize it takes time to get the operation going so I will be patient. My fear is that Craftsman tools will just be rebadged Dewalt tools or something similar. Until more tools arrive at Lowe’s I will continue to go with SK and Snap On.

Eh, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt but I’d be lying if I said my renewed enthusiasm for Craftsman isn’t fading a bit now. I figured if Anyone could make a couple small socket sets in the USA for the sake of relaunching a once American Icon of a tool brand it would be SBD. I mean, we’re talking simple socket sets here, not an entire new power tool line.

Maybe they’re trying to make sales for Fathers day and this was the only way to make it happen? I dunno, it’s the only spin I have to put on it. Would it really have been that hard to stamp Craftsman on some sockets off the Proto line for the sake of building goodwill and trust again though? I’m not seeing how this is any different from what Sears did to be honest.

I don’t know if anyone else is thinking like me but I already knew their tools were not going to be Made in USA. Maybe in the future when they can get their plants up and running or contract out to a US manufacturer but it’s too soon from the time they purchased Craftsman from Sears.

I’m disappear with all the harsh criticism of the absolute very first products relaunched not being from US. It’s not like nothing Craftsman offered before was made in the US before they were sold…It’s a massive brand, y’all, it’s gonna take a lot of work and unimaginable efforts to completely relocate their operations and complete logistics. And yet doing just that has been pledged, so why so salty? It’s not like Craftsman has been a remotely stellar brand in recent history, so what’s the affront to everyone’s honor right now?

The “salty” may be about the supposed pledge that SBD made to bring Craftsman production back to the USA. Many of us grew up seeing Craftsman tools more than we saw SnapOn or one of the professional brands – so we associate it with our youth (mine was in the ’40’s and 50’s). But nostalgia for the past can sometimes cloud our perceptions of the reality. The song that Archie and Edith Bunker sang (“Those were the days”) – had a line “gee my old LaSalle ran great” – but the facts were that not all USA made cars did run great. Craftsman tools did fit the bill, probably were instrumental in getting lots of good work done – and is a brand worthy of being revitalized. If SBD can build lots of them in the USA and sell them for what folks are willing to pay – then so much the better.

I can understand that, but it’s been addressed lol they can’t just close up shop Friday night and say, “Alright guys, remember we’re working in America on Monday.” It’s been pledged to come back over, take this soft launch for what it is, commitment to keep the brand going while that relocation is carried out.

I also am thinking that sbd bought craftsman so nobody else could. Same thing with Irwin and Lenox. They haven’t done shit with either one of them since they bought them and they’ve owned them for a while now. Same thing with few other brands that they own. So why did sbd buy these brands? Irwin is almost as much as an American icon as craftsman. Everyone had Irwin vise grips. And if there’s one company that could bring Irwin back to DeWitt, it’s sbd. Same thing with craftsman coming back here. Sbd shouldn’t have said anything about craftsman or where it was going to be made until they were sure about the USA made tools were released. They knew what was expected and they intentionally did this to let people know how full of shit they are. If they really cared about the brands they owned and pledge to do s

This is a bad way to start things off with craftsman and it’s rebranding. They should not have said anything if they couldn’t follow through with their actions. Perception is reality. If they kept their mouth shut and didn’t pledge to do something that they couldn’t follow through with, it would be different. Right now I have Dewalt wrench and ratchet sets made in China (which I’m quite happy with) along with USA made craftsman and a few other brands of us origin, so I won’t be buying craftsman either way because I don’t need to. But just because it’s made overseas in Asia does not mean that it’s junk. There’s plenty of USA made stuff that is crap that cost more just because it’s made here. They use the same manufacturing methods that are used here, and it’s the decision makers that choose what goes into and what gets left out in terms of the quality of the final product including the quality of the materials used to make it. But the perception is that sbd is full of shit and they shot themselves in the foot by releasing these tools and the expected backlash to follow by the release of craftsman without being made in the USA, which was the only expectation that people were concerned with. And if they’re smart, they won’t say anything else about pledging or releasing anything else other than USA made craftsman. I’m sure people will hold out until they get the ducks lined up. And they shouldn’t do anything else until then. They stepped in their own shit. Let’s hope they don’t do it with their shoes off.

I had a USA Craftsman set as a kid; grew up in a rural area during the 80’s. Got it from my grandpa and I loved it. It sufficed for many many years, but I never really challenged it.

Many years later I was working on my motorcycle, and had an old tough bolt to remove. The craftsman socket couldn’t grab it at all. The socket wasn’t damaged either, just a gnarly bolt that hadn’t been removed since probably 1984. There was no room for wrenches.

So I rolled it on down to my friend’s place, where he had snap-ons. The snap-on grabbed it instantly and it came right out. He laughed and rubbed it in.

Every time someone equates even the old USA Craftsman to pro lines, I remember that day. They were decent, but not amazing, despite my sentimental memories.

If these are going to be hitting the shelves at Lowes and online retailers, then it’s too late. Craftsman will suffer the same fate as many other brands that sbd has bought and failed to do right by. If that’s the case, then a boycott against sbd wouldn’t be a bad idea. I think they need to be reminded that they should give back to the country that made them great and that they need to bring some of the brands they own back home. They’ve forgotten that more so than any other tool conglomerate. Everyone else other than the American tool brands are have their materials and manufacturing and production all within their country of origin. Especially the European brands. Every single aspect of the manufacturing and sales process is within the same building. From the forging and die casting down to the plastic packaging. Why can’t Stanley Black & Decker do the same here in the country they originated from? Every brand they own started in America. Today none of them are made in America (and Dewalt doesn’t count with their feeble attempt to assemble in the USA).

Where’s the USA-made Waterloo/Craftsman hand tool box? That’d be awesome if Waterloo was making the 16/20in metal boxes in the USA again.

I thought everyone was well-informed ahead of time that SBD’s timeline put it at about TWO YEARS before they would be producing Craftsman branded hand tools in the USA.

It probably would have been a lot less if they could have just bought the Armstrong facilities and just restarted production of the Craftsman stuff there, but that’d be too easy.

I am pretty impressed they were able to get some kind of agreement with Apex to sell the China-made Craftsman stuff in the meantime, plus they rushed to get some Taiwan-made Stanley stuff branded as Craftsman.

I would rather they not introduce any more, though. It’s already a mess having so many different core Craftsman tools made in so many places. More Taiwan-made stuff badged and sold as Craftsman is just going to make it less clear what’s what if they ever go full USA-only in the future, though perhaps their plan is to sell rebadged Stanley stuff as cheaper Craftsman and the USA-stuff as more expensive Craftsman.

Seems like a bad idea in terms of being able to exchange one for the other under warranty though.

I don’t think it’s beem said, but my guess is that they still have to finish up some contracts with China and etc. It could take some time to use some of the builds that already exist. I am confident that SB&D will follow through with their promise. Remember, Sears/Craftsman have sold out to China for quite a while now. Only time will tell.

I’ve also read some comments that craftsman has been mid grade at best. I am in the apartment maintenance industry and have used these tools for the last 20 years and they have held up to anything I put them through. Plumbing, electrical, demolition. You name it. Other brands haven’t cut it for me and I can’t afford Snap On or Mac

I just don’t ever see SBD offering you Proto made tools at Craftsman prices. I think those of you demanding that in the spirit of goodwill are being unreasonable.
What I do see as a possibility is Blackhawk being rebadged as craftsman and for that matter, there are several Dewalt mechanics tools that would be quite an improvement over the current crop of PRC made craftsman tools. One example of Dewalt goodness would be their round head fine toothed ratchet that is Italian made and basically the same as an USAG ratchet with a different handle.
I don’t think that the new SBD owned craftsman line will ever be entirely US made. That ship has sailed unfortunately. In some respects we as craftsman users are part of the problem. We want something for nothing, pennies on the piece pricing. We don’t want to buy anything new from a retail source unless unless it’s 50% off or more. We want a no questions asked warranty on any craftsman branded tool regardless of where we bought it, or how badly we abused it.

Abraham Lincoln said, “You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” SBD claim of rebuilding the made in USA Craftsman brand was a pretense simply to lure customers. SBD has already backtracked from its 2017 proclamation of returning manufacturing to the US. Now SBD will target certain tools for domestic production were feasible. Knowing SBD products currently for sale at Lowes made in USA that will mean Craftsman razor knifes, cheaply made screw driver sets and tape measures. No thank you SBD. If you want a made in USA Craftsman tool box/chest, Sears is still selling Waterloo products for less than what SBD will likely offer. Thoroughly disgusted.

🤔few thing’s I’ve learn from the comments.
1. people have elevated diy/mid Craftsman made in usa tools, to Snap-on and Mac quality.
2.So much rediculous crying and bitching.
3.People do not understanding what it takes to build/relaunch a brand back in the USA.
4. people are impatient

Craftsman made diy/ mid level tools, nothing more or less. I own several usa made sockets and ratchets. the ratchets are horrible, the swing and slack of the ratchet makes me cringe everytime and they feel oversized/awkward on your hand. The sockets where great. I for one welcome this update and cant wait to see what will come out next. hopefully they will have a nice mix of usa/Taiwand made tools.

Craftsman’s best and strongest ratchets were the old fine tooth ratchets with a double pawl system. You had to twist the two top tabs to reverse it. I had a Williams ratchet at work that was made similarly. Then Craftsman and everyone else came out with the fancy shiny chrome plated ratchets with a weaker single pawl system that was like Snap-Ons. You only had to turn the old fine tooth ratchet a small amount to get it to go to the next tooth. They sold so many of the weaker shiny ratchets that eventually Sears dropped the old best one’s that they made.

I’ve been using craftsman from the 80’s and they were never top line. they were serviceable and importantly, AFFORDABLE.
tools are only as good as the tooling and the related QC protocols. I’ve bought good tools and horrible tools made in China, Germany, Great Britan, USA, Japan…so give us a break with your China bashing already.

I just got an ad from Harry Epstein that they are closing out a 20 pc Craftsman punch and chisel set. “All punches are old stock USA Craftsman” Interesting that the Craftsman stuff is being advertised as “old stock.”

Today I bought my 12yo son a 137pc new craftsman mech set as reward for good school year and as an alternative to the damn vid games, overall happy with the purchase. Was on sale at Lowes!

I was a little disappointed at first not seeing the “Made in USA”, had to really look hard on the packaging to see where it was manufactured. All the sockets in the set seem to be the same quality as crescent brand. The wrenches and ratchets have same look and feel of my old USA craftsman tools. I myself prefer S-K, Cornwell, Mac and Wright, just not ready to invest in those for my 12yo yet.

The Allen keys that come in the set look exactly like the ones from 25 years ago, cheap, square cut ends, in a poly bag with slight surface rust…lol

To me, seemed liked a better deal cost vs quality vs features than what harbor freight had to offer.

The carrying case is much better than the one from 25 years ago, new one has 4 lock tabs on the outside, and everything snap locks into place inside….always hated opening that old set upside down…

All should understand that made in America does not always mean “manufactured in America. Your 60k computer pick up truck from Detroit is assembled or made in America and not manufactured in America. Lots of parts from Canada, China and Mexico. Low bid usually gets the contract for the parts.

I was in Lowe’s looking at the standard wrench set that we all grew up with.
The Chinese version of these sets lack in both Craftsmanship and feel lighter. The box end was off center. These wrenches were a staple as to what the brand was. Affordable and strong as hell!

These new wrenches are closer to what you would see at Harbor Freight. No thank you.

Screwdrivers were also the staple of the Craftsman name. If you ever bought a set, you still have them and they never failed. They may not have the best handles but you never EVER had one strip a screw out and cut put a ton of torque on them without them breaking.

If Stanley doesn’t bring production back to the USA, they will not survive. This is kinda what they did with the MAC brand. Cheapened the whole line for profit. Craftsman was a victim of bad business practess through Sears and Kmart. Look what is going on with Sears right now. It was never the tools. It was the store front!

Harbor Freight is gaining day by day. Hate to see that when it could be Craftsman doing this growing!

SBD should cut the fat and begin making in USA. I do not care if SBD shares “existing tooling” from current brand lines and just changes the brand name, at least the tooling is paid for. Keep the American tool makers busy.

Maybe SBD should re-think their future…..Heck, hire a few top employees from Harbor Freight and re-think the future. HF opens a new store every 3 or 4 days……..That should tell you something.

Sears is all but gone, why not clone the HF concept and have a Tool Super Store in every city HF does. I would go there before ever thinking about HF! Maybe have a Craftsman Pro-line there as well.

Of course the prices would have to be comparable to HF. Just a bit higher would be nice. And carry the Craftsman warranty as well.

The folks who are or would be making quality tools in the US need to be paid better wages and have better benefits than in China, Taiwan, or wherever. In other words we will pay significantly more for American made tools and other things. That is the equation that the politician do not talk about. I would pay more for a US tool, even if it wasn’t much better than an average Craftsman.

I received a Craftsman plastic tool box as a gift, and the tools seems to fair, but the plastic box is a poor piece of junk. The draws are hard to open or close, Reminds me of the below below quality stuff we use to import .

Call your attention to the following:
Take a behind the scenes look at this East Longmeadow factory as it prepares to grow workforce, start making Craftsman tools (photos, video)
Updated Feb 19, 2018; Posted Feb 19, 2018
38
Gallery: An inside look at Stanley Black & Decker’s Lenox Plant in East Longmeadow
this is the original Lenox American Saw plant [since 1964]

“We’ll begin integrating Craftsman into our operations in the second half of 2018,” in the second half of 2018, said spokesman Tim Perra.. “Production here would probably coincide with the launch of the product in the second half of 2018.”

Now called Stanley Black & Decker’s Lenox Plant, it has added 100 workers for a new head count of 670 employees, and has plans to add another 40 to 60 positions in the coming year, said Hannah Butler, senior human resources manager.

The factory also received $7 million to $8 million in new equipment and plans to get $10 million or more in investment in the future, said Scott Burkins, director of operations and engineering.

“It is great being part of a company that is American-owned and American-made,” Burkins said. “We make products with purpose here. We make products that fit the organization.”

I owned an appliance repair business for years. My guys were only allowed to use tools made in the US. The reason why was because of the quality issue. This prevention kept guys from busting their knuckles and hand and arm injuries. I am retired now, but I will say this. Craftsman tools have changed so much that I won’t buy new ones! I’ll just keep my old set, and hopefully I’ll die before they wear out.

I will never pay good money for another craftsman tool until they are made in the good ol U.S. A. again, so tired of these company’s selling out to save money in labor by taking away American jobs,plus anything made in China or Tawain is poor quality and I wont buy it,in the mean time there are other American company’s who make good quality tools such as Armstrong and Proto so check them out.

A lifetime warranty, easy exchanges and more durability then the cheap stuff so you don’t have to interrupt projects to exchange a crapy tool. That is why I have a lot of Craftsman in my tool boxes. The Chinese system of subsidized , and centralized manufacturing plants would be hard to beat for short term profits but hopefully they will do the right thing. If not the Chinese will take all there proprietary knowledge and run with it like has happened with a lot of products.

You’re looking at this all wrong. Wait til they do the deepest discounts on the last of the cheap chinese/tawian made tools, buy what you want. Then be patient til the made in USA product comes out, break those tools and have them replaced with Made in USA product. Hahahaha!!!

Seriously though I hope this pie in the sky plan from SBD can bring back manufacturing and jobs back to America. As mentioned here in other posts, there’s many facets of the puzzle that will have to line up. State, local Govt. zoning, neighbors, infrastructure, etc. It will be a great story in American achievement if they can pull this off. I think we are all a little sentimental about the brand .

I have never been impressed with anything SBD, (no experience with PROTO). I was very disappointed when they bought Porter-Cable, even more so with the Craftsman purchase. Ever since, I have been in the process of restocking with made in USA. I sold off all of my Craftsman wrenches and ratchets and replaced with SK (wrenches), Bonney/Matco (15/30 angle wrenches), and Armstrong ratchets (of course I can now afford them–still won’t buy overpriced Snap-on/MAC). The only Craftsman tools I still own are most of my standard sockets (older USA made). My impacts are Armstrong and SK. I have been very happy with my SK wrenches (combi and x-frame). I LOVE my Armstrong ratchets and breakers. I am also love my Tekton (USA made) screwdrivers. Pliers, etc. are all now Channellock, Vise-Grip. (“Someday”, Knipex, someday…)

In this day and age of online retail, I see no need for Craftsman, even if they start Made in the USA again. In all my years with Craftsman I think I only ever replaced a ratchet or two (Chinese built), and a couple of twisted/bent screwdrivers (not being used as screwdrivers ;-)). I will miss the convenience of walking into a store to replace a tool, but in most cases I have enough backups that I can wait a few days if necessary. Granted, I’m not a professional tool user.

In the 70s 90% of the full time mechanics I knew, and that was a lot, used
Craftsman tools. Period.
They’d invariably have a couple odd truck tools, but that was it.

Honestly, at wages in those dark days, very few could afford truck tools.

Most mechanics I knew, also came from a post-depression childhood.
They didn’t worship tools. They didn’t covet tools. They used them.

They new a good value when they saw it.
Not to mention, what tools they actually needed (not wanted).
They knew that shiny doesn’t fix cars, but a solid tool with a lifetime warranty, easily exchanged down the street at lunch, would.

I think a divide happened somewhere in the 90s.
Out with the old in with the new.
Not bad I guess, not good I guess, just is.

Somewhere along the way, parts stopped being removed and repaired.
Motors, differentials, and trans stopped being removed and rebuilt.

Instead parts were just swapped out.
Easier to slap in a new engine than to rebuild it.
Either it couldn’t be rebuilt, or the knowledge base dwindled, as
more and more parts swappers and computer techs filled the bays.

Machines shops on every corner in every small town, struggled, then finally went out of business.

The people that lived off of Craftsman tools, faded away.

What was left was many thousands of children, that were now adults, remembering their dad’s tools.
None of them mechanics mind you, or “techs”.
Just people wanting a tool kit like dads.

That market is what Sears has been selling too for decades now.

If the Craftsman line is brought back and built properly,
I have to wonder how many of those new generation tool buyers, would be willing to pay $75 for a ratchet, or $400 for a 150pc entry tool set.
(I think one I bought back in ’91 or so was $99 new then. $400 seems like a reasonable jump for 30 years).

Especially with import sets sitting right beside of them.

Those entering into the field now?….I just don’t know.
The image of what a mechanic is, let alone job description, has changed.
So many years of Craftsman bashing, and truck chasing.
I honestly can’t see the line seriously taking flight again.

You are on the money with your comment. My old K5 Blazer did not care if the tool was chrome or not. It just wanted a tough tool to get the job done. Ask the young mechanics if they can set the timing on a small block just by listening to it or what a clutch-flight transmission is. How about the old Thomas Exchange Guide. I’m 70 and that is what I grew up with.
I don’t feel that the old Craftsman quality will make a come back.

I inherited Craftsman tools from my grandfather in 1990 and I’m not sure how long he had them before that ratchet sockets screwdrivers and wrenches I may be a weekend warrior but I have abused these tools over the last 30 years Building engines chassis here at home other than a few broken sockets I have no complaints but one thing about it they were all stamped made in the USA oh and the broken sockets yeah there was some cheater pipe action going on there hopefully the new craftsman plant in Texas will produce tools of this quality again